Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

On Friday, June 8, FMCSA, published in the Federal Register the results of the Pre Authority Safety Audits, naming the names of those Mexican carriers who have applied for operating authority in the United States, and the numbers may just surprise you.

I’m still reviewing the tables but at this time, this much is evident

• 107 Mexican Carriers Applied for authority
• 39 of these carriers withdrew their application
• 6 failed the PASA for various reasons, usually not being in compliance with HOS or drug testing
• 33 passed all 5 elements of the PASA as required by United States regulations
• 9 carriers were unable to be contacted to schedule the review.

Of the carriers that passed the PASA and are awaiting final approval to operate in the United States, 155 units and 142 commercial drivers cleared to operate under the Demonstration project.

These drivers and trucks will be held to a higher standard than American drivers as stated in the Federal Notice. All will have to display current CVSA decals which are valid for 3 months yet will still be subject to random inspections at the whim of law enforcement and other entities.

The English language provision will be enforced by language proficiency checks as they cross the border and clear the border inspection facilities. These will be conducted in English by the inspectors and determination of proficiency will be at the sole discretion of the inspector. I see a major problem brewing here if the inspector is having a bad day.

Drug Testing has been done by U.S. labs in at various sites in the United States . This complies fully with 49cfr regarding drug testing.

FMCSA has certified, as required, the differences and acceptability of Mexican rules for out of service violations which are much stricter than ours in the U.S.

Interestingly enough, at this time, the mega carriers are not showing a presence in the PASA. Only Jaguar, the Mexican partner of Celadon (18 drivers 42 units) have applied and passed the tests.

As I have been saying all along, this does not represent a flood of Mexican trucks coming into the country to take our jobs and cut the freight rates. Upon reading the entire document, as you should all do, it appears the impact on our industry will be much less than the influx of Canadian carriers was a decade ago.

I also find it interesting by looking at where the drug testing stations were located, that the majority of these carriers are from Baja California and Sinaloa, the state bordering Arizona. Only a small handful were based in an area where they would access the United States through a Texas port of entry.

This also tells me that the majority are preparing for short hauls up the pacific coast and probably will not operate outside of the 3 western states.

Think for yourself and make your own decisions. Don’t take for granted what those with an agenda would have you believe. Take a moment and download and carefully read the truth!